


While Our Blood's Still Young

by redqueentheory



Series: I'm With the Band [13]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Clothed Sex, Humiliation, M/M, Minor Injuries, Outdoor Sex, Scratching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:51:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redqueentheory/pseuds/redqueentheory
Summary: Brad works late. Taako offers carte blanche. Brad makes an unexpected reference.





	While Our Blood's Still Young

It's late, and Taako is bored and restless. He ditched the apartment ages ago, spent a couple of hours ranging around the corners of the base he hasn’t seen before. He finally figures nothing can really go wrong with a late night visit to Fantasy Costco, but unfortunately roaming the aisles doesn't produce anything of interest. It takes up time, at least, and it's close to eleven when he takes his leave of Garfield (creepily chipper, despite the late hour and the fact that he hasn't bought anything) and heads back out into the night air, trying not to think about the reason he has all this spare time.

The stupid, authoritarian, apparently-too-busy-with-work-to-fuck reason, who he certainly hasn't been cursing from here to the planet’s surface for inexplicably running out of time for the  _ arrangement _ and keeping Taako on the fucking backburner like a pathetic groupie. Which sucks, and is particularly humiliating because he absolutely feels like a groupie, checking his fucking stone every half hour for a text that he knows Brad won’t write because he’s a grumpy old man who hates texting.

Trying not to think about it has the opposite result, as it so often does, and he finds himself dwelling on their encounter earlier that day. Taako had gotten to the point where he was about ready to take matters into his own hands, prepared to ignore the usual rule of Brad setting a time. He casually dropped past HR to ‘ask about Mr Bradson’s schedule’, put up with Charity raising one perfect, dubious eyebrow, before waving him through into the office. But then Brad’s greeting had been distant, even blunt, and Taako had been vaguely offended until he’d seen the less-than-pressed state of Brad’s shirt and the scattered papers across the office, and put two and two together.

“Working late, huh?”

A sigh. “It’s likely, I’m afraid.”

“Want me to…” he’d started, but then trailed off, uncertain what he’d even been about to offer.

Brad had smirked, briefly and obviously enjoyed Taako’s discomfort, and then said, “I’ll let you know if I leave before ten, pet.”

He’d accepted the dismissal, a part of him reeling at the thought of  _ staying in the office until ten _ , but then Brad is a total control freak about everything else so Taako supposes it makes sense for him to be a weirdo about getting all his work done ASAP, too.

Anyway. He doggedly refuses to admit to himself why he’s hanging around in the common areas this late; tells himself it's too nice a night to go home, and sitting in the apartment bored and antsy is a shitty idea anyway. It’s a new moon, so the stars are particularly bright; bright enough that it’s lit perfectly well, for him at least, making his way across the quad. He hesitates briefly at the entryway leading towards HR; thinks about heading over anyway to see if he can catch Brad there late, too worn down to be mean about Taako showing up to wheedle sex out of him.

But something stops him, three feet from the corridor leading off to the offices, and he peels off towards the arboretum instead. Merle's been raving about it and Taako’s been snidely ignoring him but if he can come up with some story about being there during a new moon and walking among the trees lit with starlight or some kind of hard-on-for-nature bullshit he'll be able to milk it for at least a couple weeks. How better to deal with a bad mood than being an asshole to Highchurch.

He's committed, but then he hears door to the HR corridor slide open behind him. Spins awkwardly toward the sound, can’t help laughing a little at the irony because of course, of fucking course, there Brad is, looking–

Honestly, looking tired. He’s still wearing his tie, but he’s loosened it and unbuttoned his shirt, and Taako is immediately angry about how his eyes are drawn to the small triangle of exposed skin below Brad’s throat; even more angry about what he wants to do to it.

They stare at each other for a few heartbeats, Taako’s mind racing with how to explain why he’s out here so late. Something - probably Magnus’ influence - makes him walk straight the hell up to Brad, prop his hands on his hips and fix him with a gaze Taako hopes comes off as challenging, rather than desperate. He checks an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Bradson. Way past ten by now. You really oughta do a better job of managing your time."

Brad scans the quad once, then immediately strokes a hand through Taako's hair, squeezes his shoulder just a bit too hard to be affectionate. "Very clever, pet,” he murmurs. “And yet here  _ you _ are, ranging around the common areas at midnight without any reason at all."

"Taako keeps his own damn hours," Taako tells him. Not saying,  _ I was bored, you've ruined me, please take me back to your place and fuck me stupid. _

"Yes, I’m aware,” Brad says. "It didn't look like you were heading home."

"Nah," he says, casual, leaning into Brad's space. He doesn't move, so Taako takes it as permission to run a careful hand up his chest, scrape nails over the exposed skin which had so annoyed him a moment ago for reasons which now elude him. "Gonna go check out the weirdo fake forest."

"I’m fairly certain the arboretum is off-limits to non-caretaker employees after curfew,” Brad says. “Am I going to have to write you up again?”

He doesn’t smirk, but it’s a near thing, and Taako is hit with a sudden bolt of arousal, thinking about that ‘again’. His voice is thick and clumsy as he says, “You wanna choke me you don’t have to make up bullshit excuses, just do it.”

“I think I do recall technically being a caretaker myself,” Brad muses, as though he hasn’t heard. “And it  _ is _ a very pleasant evening, so I suppose I could escort you, if you have a  _ burning _ desire to see it." There's nothing about the words which is particularly out of the ordinary but Brad’s expression and the lilt of his emphasis goes straight to Taako’s gut.

“Sure you don’t need your beauty sleep? I can always detour to walk you home instead if you like,” he says, affecting a blithe expression.

Brad’s smile is wide and pleasant and entirely at odds with how he slides a hand down to Taako’s thigh, flexes his fingers, digs in. “I’ll survive. After you,” and he gestures at the arboretum dome, visible past the buildings immediately bordering the quad. Taako hooks his finger in the top of Brad’s shirt, tugs at it as he steps backwards and Brad’s hand slides off his leg, then lets go to spin on his heel so his skirt flares dramatically. This, he can do. Brad’s hand reappears on the small of his back, just high enough that it isn’t quite his ass, warm and solid.

“Technically a caretaker huh?”

“One of the privileges of my role,” Brad tells him, thumb tracing small circles over Taako’s skin. He smells so good, Taako wants to turn around and press his face into Brad’s neck and breathe him in, it’s distracting. “You’re familiar with the concept of good behaviour being rewarded.”

“It’s been explained to me a few times. Sounds hella boring, tee bee aitch,” Taako says, as they make their way across the open space. “But good for you.” He deliberately doesn’t look at Brad, deliberately doesn’t react to his hand now skating firmly up and down Taako’s spine. “Sounds like you’ve got a sweet deal.”

-

Brad had honestly left his office exhausted and had been looking forward to going straight home and falling asleep. Running into Taako in the quad was unexpected; he certainly would have thought himself past any sort of -  _ engagement _ , tonight. But Taako is very convincing, and very clearly - Brad allows himself, in the privacy of his own head, to call it what it is - gagging for it.

The thing about access to the arboretum is technically true, but the little reference to writing him up would have been worth a lie for how it makes Taako’s eyes widen, stumbling over his next sentence. He’s so easy to provoke, despite all the bratty resistance. It’s what makes it so satisfying to take him apart, use his own defiance against him.

Brad doesn’t think he has the energy for that tonight, but he certainly has the energy for something, and Taako’s tiny little provocations are steadily building the tension between them. He wants, with an intensity bordering on fierce, to take them out on Taako somehow, and he’s sure Taako wants that, too.

So, they cross the quad towards the arboretum itself, and Taako makes a snide little comment about Brad’s ‘sweet deal’, and he lets himself savour the moment, sink his teeth into the thick feeling of anticipation which weaves its way between them. “You could call it that,” he rumbles slowly, scraping claws gently over Taako’s back. “A sweet deal you’re now benefiting from, as well.” He grasps at the back of Taako’s neck, bites back a smile at the way his shoulders tense and relax. “You’re up for a quid pro quo, pet.”

Taako looks up at him, then, and fires him a quick grin. “You mean you ain’t doing this  _ gratis _ as a way to spend time with me, Taako, your-” he stumbles, then affects a contemplative look, tapping his chin with a finger, “favourite eager cocksucker?”

Brad can’t help but choke on a breath, and Taako smirks at him. “Oh, pet,” he manages, when he gets the air for it. “You really are hard up for it, aren’t you.”

"I'm not going to lie to you, Bradson, I  _ will _ blow you against these magical fucking trees if you promise to make me come after." His tone is cocky but there's still a blush spreading over his cheeks, visible even in the dimness as they approach the arboretum entryway. Brad holds his bracer up to the lock. "I don't care, whatever you want."

It would be so easy to take the opening and both of them know it. Brad can see Taako casually but firmly brace himself for whatever Brad says in response, and he's tempted to make some kind of outrageous, intense demand, but he's too tired to follow through and an empty threat is a bad risk to take. It's fine, he reasons, to take a lesser approach, but before he gets to really consider what that might look like the door opens and the arboretum spreads out in front of them.

It’s tiered like an amphitheatre, small lush copses of different types of trees cascading down to cluster around the huge gnarled oak in the centre, whose growth must have been artificially accelerated -- that, or it’s been transplanted from somewhere else. It’s huge, towering over all the other trees at the base of the arboretum, stretching up towards the transparent glass ceiling, which arches away to meet the treeline at the far end of the enormous room. The stars are cold and bright above and the air is rich with life and there’s a shift in the mood between them, a sudden ebbing in the playfulness and the anticipation, as they both stand silently, taking it in.

“Shit,” Taako says, finally. “Didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“I’d read the requisitions but I’ve never actually been here,” Brad agrees.

The thing is - it's beautiful. The druids have set up some kind of complicated magical climate field which ensures that all of the trees are in optimal conditions despite being from wildly different environments. They're all in bloom, and the glow of the stars softens as it hits the canopy, edging the trees and their flowers in silver.

"Well, it's definitely gonna get to Merle that I saw this," Taako remarks, and grabs Brad's hand, tugging him towards the nearest lushly-flowering grove, which looks to be - wisteria? He has to duck underneath a thick curtain of purple blooms and suddenly his face is at level with Taako, who - whose hair is cast lavender by the light through the flowers, whose expression is weirdly soft, all traces of the smirk gone, whose hand is still curled in Brad's.

He's staring, and realises he's still staring as he straightens up and knocks a cluster of flowers with his ear. Taako laughs at him, genuine, and says, "Too tall for your own good," before letting his hand drop.

It suddenly feels all too dangerously intimate, cocooned in softly waving blossoms, the anticipation of earlier turning softer, sweeter. It's just fatigue, Brad tells himself firmly. And he could hardly avoid being sentimental in this - environment. Which would really suggest, chimes a sly voice, that he should change the environment before the mood takes hold.

Taako is still smiling at him good-naturedly, and he finds himself saying, "See if I give you a boost into any of the taller ones now," before he can think twice about it. And then has an internal crisis because for gods’  _ sake _ Bradson don't indulge him just because he looks  _ pretty _ surrounded by  _ flowers _ .

But Taako just laughs again, says, "You know I can levitate, my dude, I'm a wizard," and Brad’s odd little slip goes unnoticed. "Hey, I think I see apples this way, c'mon, that's your jam, right?"

"I-" Brad is taken aback by how casually Taako says this, honestly surprised that the elf has been - paying attention to him outside the specific role he plays in Taako's life.

"You..." Taako repeats, and crosses his arms. "Moonbase to Brad? You having trouble with your brainpan there, Bradson? Used up all the ol' grey matter on your spreadsheets?"

It kicks him back into gear, finally, jolting him out of this strange uneven mood, and he gives Taako his best professional smile and says "I was just thinking how satisfying it is to see you considering others for once, pet." Fuck. Too sincere. "You're normally such a greedy thing." Better.

If Taako notices, he doesn't let on. Brad finds himself almost regretting it, sensing the opportunity for something - bigger - has been missed, but also relieved he won't have to address it. Taako just rolls his eyes, says, “It's the most interesting thing about you other than your dick," and turns in the vague direction he'd previously indicated.

The same mad impulse that gripped him before hits him anew and makes Brad want to say something wry like  _ I _ ' _ m so glad it passes muster _ but he can't step too far out of character in case it scares Taako off - and isn't that just a delicious irony - so he says, "Yes, I'm aware of your limited attention span."

"I pay attention when I gotta," Taako says. "Hey look, I was right."

The apple grove is plentiful, bunches of blush-coloured fruit dripping off the trees, and they even smell perfect. Taako reaches up, picks an apple, bites into it, frowns.

"No good?" Brad asks.

"No it's - actually really good," Taako says, tosses it to him. "Annoyingly good." Brad bites into the apple and is forced to agree as Taako continues, "All right. Your turn, where to now, Bradson?"

Brad chews slowly, scans the treetops circling them, and sees - oh, perfect.

\--

Taako's not really sure why he hands control of the situation back to Brad - if pushed, he'd probably admit it was because he'd been acting so weird, long pauses and strange expressions, that Taako honestly feels uncomfortable with pressing and teasing and provoking the way he usually would. He's not an expert at this - whatever it is - but 'simple idiot wizard' is a well-practised act, and he figures making Brad take over again might get him to chill out a bit.

And it does seem to work. Brad straightens, a sly smile creeping onto his face as he says casually, "What about that way?" and points a long finger.

"Sure, whatevs," Taako says, flippant, already planning how to provoke Brad into something that'll actually get his  _ cock out please gods ABOVE _ . He sets off in the direction Brad pointed, and says, "So where've you been, Bradson? An elf's got needs."

Brad regards him intently, says, "How have you been dealing with them?"

Well, fuck. Straight for the horny jugular. Taako laughs, nervous. "Oh, you know... this and that."

“This and that,” Brad repeats, takes another bite of his apple, and then flings the stripped core into the distance. “Perhaps you could elaborate.”

“You weren’t around, Bradson, I’m not giving you an encore recital,” Taako says, sulky.

“Whatever I want, that’s what you said,” Brad tells him. “When we walked in here.” His voice is all cool professionalism but when Taako ducks a glance at his face his eyes are  _ burning _ , curious and aroused and clearly enjoying putting Taako on the spot. “This is what I want, pet. Why don’t we start with the last time you came?”

"Ahh. Hah. Fuck," he says - mumbles, really, pained. “You don’t- it wasn’t exactly…” Taako sets his jaw. “It’s not all fuckin’ thigh highs and teasing, you know, I share a bathroom with two other people-”

“Oh, pet,” Brad croons, all condescending care. “Did you wear those to impress me?”

“Shut up,” Taako says, “shit, you really know how to piss me off–”

“I was impressed,” Brad says. His tone has shifted, all bare and hungry, and it hits Taako right in the chest, something more than just desire in response to being so openly  _ wanted _ . “They looked so sweet on you, pet.” And then, musing half to himself, “They’d’ve looked good in your mouth, too. Next time, maybe.”

“ _ Jesus _ ,” Taako manages, assailed by the image of being gagged with his own stockings. “You’re such a fuckin’ pervert–”

“Where were we,” Brad interrupts him, smirk widening. “The last time you came. Details, pet.”

“Efficiently, in the shower this morning,” Taako retorts, which gets him a shrug.

“And the time before?”

This is going to continue until he gives Brad what Brad wants, which Taako suddenly realises isn’t a detailed account of the last time he masturbated at all. This is about Taako, his own embarrassment at having his desires stripped bare and examined, and it’s  _ working _ . "I might have - look. You know I've got toys, that's no big fucking secret."

"How often do you use them? And who is it that you’re imagining, hm?" Brad says, totally fucking even and Taako wants to die, to melt into the pine-needle-coated ground.

Wait-

"I- I’m not telling you that, Bradson, jesus, and I don't keep track, anyway," he stammers lamely, distracted by the sense memory which hits him full-force:  _ pressed up against a wall, his hands around Brad’s waist, Brad's cock sliding up the cleft of his ass, sosoclose but not- there- _

"Think about it," Brad says, and Taako can't help but hear the command, feel the part of him that scrambles to obey even though he doesn’t want to answer.

"I don't know, what do you want me to do, keep a diar-"

His sentence cuts off when Brad, behind him, crowds up into his space, pushes him firmly towards the closest tree so that he stumbles, catches himself on it. "Hey, watch it-"

"A diary sounds lovely," Brad purrs, hands braced either side of Taako's body, trapping him against the tree. He spins to face Brad, mulish. "When you’re good I could let you pick something you fantasized about,” Brad says. “Would you like that?"

The snarly reply dies on his tongue when he thinks about that, thinks about reciting the things he’s been picturing to Brad, about Brad doing them for him, unquestioning. He lets himself admit, in a voice that doesn't feel like his, "Uh, actually. Yeah. I would."

He stares at Brad's face, into his eyes, mind picking away at the expression he sees there, a slow, knowing smile gone soft and ripe around the edges. It feels awkward, too open; he ducks his head, eyes sliding away, but Brad curls a finger underneath his chin, tips it up and kisses him.

It's just kissing. There's no reason for his eyes to flutter shut, his knees to feel suddenly wobbly, his face hot. In an effort to avoid letting it show on his face he brings his arms up to twine around Brad's neck, tug him down to Taako's level. Brad huffs a laugh into his mouth, bites down on his lip and leans back, pushes up insistently on Taako’s chin, forcing him up onto his toes; he leans into Brad’s space, against his chest, so when Brad straightens up Taako’s feet are pulled off the ground entirely.

And then - hands underneath his thighs, pulling his legs apart, and the sense memory hits him again, sparked off by the scent of the pine and Brad’s sweat and his solid grip on Taako’s skin. Although he clearly lets himself go this time, digs claws in, shoves Taako gracelessly against the bark of the tree, hard enough that he cries out.

“Hold on to the branch above you,” Brad tells him, and Taako does, stretching his arms up and letting them take some of his weight, the pull and burn keeping him grounded. Brad hooks fingers in his underwear underneath the skirt, drags it roughly down his thighs, and there’s a bit of fumbling as Taako hangs from the branch and kicks them off - but then they’re gone and he can swing his legs back up and tighten them around Brad’s waist as Brad nudges forward, pinning him against the tree with his hips. Taako lets Brad take most of his weight, slides down the tree a few inches, the bark scraping uncomfortably against his back. He grinds down as best he can and Brad laughs a metallic scrape of a laugh, self-congratulatory and spiteful. "As eager as last time," he says - oh, that fucker, this was deliberate, "although your expectations have undergone- should we call it an adjustment?" The smugness of his expression is unbearable as he hums a quick spell, notes familiar enough to Taako that he could probably sing them himself by now.

"I hate you," Taako says, unable to really struggle or even put any real feeling into the words, distracted by the rough press of a now-slick finger up against him.

" _ Do _ you?" Brad coos, pressing in to the first knuckle, then making Taako hiss by sliding in the rest of the way, smiling with his teeth. "I suppose you don't need to like me to let me fuck you 'til you can't speak." His other hand is gripping Taako's thigh punishingly hard, the bruising pain a counterpoint to the shivery pleasure of the press and slide of Brad's finger.

He leans in again to kiss Taako, hard, fangs scraping lines on Taako's face. He kisses back, desperate, and moans as Brad adds a second finger.

"Still hate me, my pet?" Brad mutters against him, breath hot on Taako's face.

"Yep," he says breathlessly, stubborn, and Brad grins at him and curls his fingers to-

Taako cries out, arches his back off the tree to press against Brad's hand, luxuriates in the stretch. He drops his head forward to Brad's shoulder and bites out, "I hate you so much, don't fucking stop."

"Say please," Brad says, and Taako can hear the sneer and if he wasn't so desperate he'd struggle and kick and bite but each twitch of his hips is just barely grazing the head of his cock over Brad's shirt and it's  _ torture _ , he just wants Brad to  _ touch him _ , so-

" _ Please _ ," he says - begs, really, full-throated and urgent, rolling his hips down onto Brad's hand again.

“Oh, now that’s what I like to hear,” Brad says, a velvet murmur. “Keep that going, pet, that’s lovely.” He crowds closer, folding Taako almost in half against the tree, adding a third finger to the relentless press and slide.

"Fuuuck," Taako grits, the stretch of Brad's fingers sending quivering shocks up his spine, making his own neglected cock throb. "Please, please, just fuck me, I wanna feel you, I've been thinking about it for days-"

Brad's fingers disappear and there's the small sound of him undoing his belt, and finally, finally, Taako feels his cock pressing up against him, suddenly giddy with the realisation that Brad’s actually following through this time, is going to press him back against this tree and fuck him.

His mouth waters at the thought and he feels a pulse of anticipatory pleasure as Brad grips his ass. He’s lifted, slightly, and then Brad pushes inside him and lets go, lets Taako’s own weight drive him down onto Brad’s cock, and makes a low, satisfied sound underneath Taako’s own strangled syllable.

Taako twitches his hips, practically revels in the solid weight of Brad below him, inside him, his fingers pressing hard into the meat of Taako’s ass, and says, throaty, “Fuck, that’s deep,” before he can think about it. Almost immediately he flushes to the tips of his ears, and Brad smirks at him.

“Have to try a bigger toy,” he manages, as he starts to thrust, “or a different angle, perhaps, pet.”

“Nah,” Taako counters, tightly, “gotta leave you something to be best at,” but the line is stripped of all its cockiness and comes out like he absolutely means it; he’s achingly full and utterly hard, mindlessly rolling his hips down to meet Brad, so he probably does.

“How thoughtful,” Brad grits out, and then rucks Taako’s shirt up his chest and scrapes claws down his ribs, grinning at Taako’s yelp and his faltering rhythm. He does it again, lines claws up at the same places and draws them back down, leaving angry red welts in his wake. Taako breathes out hard through his nose and throws his head back as the hot wires of pain set his skin alight and he can suddenly feel - the tree against his back, Brad’s other hand on his side, his cock sliding uselessly against Brad’s stomach, all too-much, too-intense.

He lets go, then, of any thought of maintaining his own control, locks his ankles around Brad’s back, pushes down to meet Brad as much as he can, enthusiastically wanton.

Brad's pace increases, and he growls and presses Taako hard back against the tree. It’s almost enough to give proper friction against his own cock and he’s trying to angle his hips backwards to get just enough contact to- actually get somewhere - but Brad says, “Don’t you dare, don’t come,” and he closes his eyes and whines but obeys, focusing on the feeling of Brad, stretching and filling him.

“Don’t have toys that fill me with cum, either,” he says, and laughs breathlessly as Brad snarls, thrusts stuttering, thumbs digging into Taako’s hips as he comes, a hot wet pulsing. Taako moans and clenches around him, desperate to draw it out, but Brad lifts him off, ignoring his protests, and sets him on his feet in front of the tree.

And then Brad kneels.

\--

They’ve not -  _ not _ done this before, Brad thinks, but Taako is still clearly taken aback, confused for a second before he realises and his eyes go wide, pupils blown. And he whines “Oh, fuck, oh fuck, Brad, shit,” as Brad grips his cock, slides his thumb through drooling precum.

“So eager,” he comments, and wraps his lips around the head, tonguing at it. Taako wails, leans back against the tree, digs his nails into the bark.

“Fucking  _ hell _ ,” Taako manages, garbled.

He slides his mouth down, relishing how Taako gibbers and twitches above him, and carefully pins one of his hips before pulling off. “Legs further apart, pet.”

“What- oh, gods,” Taako slurs, as Brad pushes the fingers of his spare hand back inside - looser, now, but slippery with come and still hotly clinging. He thrusts, gently, and brings his mouth back down to Taako’s cock, tongues at the underside. It doesn't take long, the hot wet slide of his mouth in counterpoint to the press of his fingers, before Taako's head falls back against the tree.

“Brad I - I can’t- I’m-”

He hums in acknowledgement and Taako chokes on an exhalation and comes, pulsing sudden and sharp. Brad swallows with a pleased noise, pulls back, wipes the back of his hand over his mouth. He looks up to see Taako staring down at him, mouth slack and panting, and can't help himself; he tugs Taako down to his knees, kisses him again. Taako kisses him back, soft needy sounds spilling out the corners of his mouth.

They kneel there for a few more seconds, just breathing, Brad leaning an arm onto the trunk of the tree above Taako’s shoulder. He looks down at Taako’s face, flushed and satisfied, and he wants to pull his hair and drag him into an embrace all at once. It’s a strange, intense feeling, and he redirects it by fixing his clothing into something vaguely approaching respectable as Taako remarks, “I think we’re druid-married now.”

Brad snorts an undignified laugh, counters with, “In that case, you certainly do owe me that walk home,” and shoots a look overhead at where he can see the stars through the canopy. “It’s still a lovely night for it.” He clambers to his feet, holds out his hand.

“Amazing night,” Taako agrees, pulling himself to his feet with his grip on Brad. “Definitely gonna give Merle the abridged version.”

“I hope so,” Brad says, dry as dust, as Taako collects his underwear from where it landed several feet away and shimmies back into it. “I’d have to write you up for sexually harassing a coworker if you didn’t.”

Taako stifles a giggle. “There’s only one coworker I fuck with.”

“Hmm.” Brad is suddenly unsure how this should go; it’s relaxed, fragile again, and he doesn’t want to puncture it with something  _ lewd _ but he’s also suddenly, keenly aware of how little there is, outside of that. Unspoken exchanges, the odd gentleness, but nothing solid. “You don’t have to come to- to mine, unless you’d like to,” he hears himself say, retreating into formality. “It’s very late, you might want to sleep in your own bed.”

An eyeroll. “Please. Taako’s been sleeping in his own damn bed for ages. I wanna wake up and blow you and cook you pancakes naked.”

So much for nothing lewd. “You don’t even have a tally to settle, pet.”

“Maybe I wanna get it in credit. I feel like I’m almost definitely going to be late next time. Ooh! Or maybe I’ll use it up biting you, gotta get my teeth into that orc. Got a taste for it lately.” He’s smirking, but Brad senses something else underneath it, something unsure.

“Or maybe,” he rumbles, “if you’re good, you’ll get a reward.” It’s meant as a pithy comeback, but Brad finds himself idly contemplating the next gift anyway, and is startled when his thoughts turn more sentimental than prurient.

Taako laughs, delightedly. “See, there it is, knew you’d come round.” He presses up against Brad’s side, briefly, palms his ass. “Back to yours, then?”

“I think groping counts against your tally,” Brad remarks, and Taako blows a raspberry. “That definitely does.”

“Well, all right then. You already know how I’m going to make it up.”

“Yes,” Brad says, slowly, as they start to walk back out of the arboretum. “I suppose I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks as always to Goose for the beta.
> 
> I wrote this back in... September? So I've been soft on these nerds accidentally going on a date for Months and I'm so glad you guys get to see it.
> 
> Title is from Sweet Disposition by the Temper Trap.
> 
>  
> 
> [@rqtheory_](http://www.twitter.com/rqtheory_)


End file.
